Securing the Cloud

To some, moving computing into the Cloud is a wonderful idea as it allows easy access and sharing of data. Sadly, some of those people include hackers who see cloud computing as an opportunity to exploit at another’s expense. Obviously security must be one of the most important features of any cloud computing system, and researchers at North Carolina State University and IBM have created a new system specifically for the Cloud. Called Strongly Isolated Computing Environment, or SICE, the technique uses virtualization and multicore processors to its advantage. SICE separates the virtual machines on a server to prevent the compromise of one from leading to the compromise of all. For further protection, programmers will be able to direct sensitive data to only pass through specific cores of a multicore processor. When running SICE will only take up 3% of the system’s resources, making this a very viable option for when it enters the commercial industry.